Gene Paschall, a
member of the Midwest Chapter, is featured in the
March 2009 issue of Better Homes and Gardens. This is a must see article,
with gorgeous pictures of his garden. A former research chemist, he wanted to
find a growing mix specially tailored for rhododendrons: sand, topsoil, and
mulch. For decades he has developed one of the most beautiful rhododendron
gardens in the Northern Illinois area.

He
has a number of secrets for being successful with having rhododendrons in your
garden. Would like to share them as listed by B&H...but did not receive
permission from the editor to include them in note. It is a good excuse for you
to go and buy the magazine!

He shows pictures of eight "pretty picks"
including 'Homebush', 'Golden Lights', 'Calsap', 'Gene's Own', 'Roseum Elegans',
'Tri Lights', 'Henry's Red', and 'Autumn Chiffon'. Once you read the article and
see the photos, if you are a typical rhododendron lover, your next stop will be
your favorite nursery.

Gene also gives the recipe for his ideal mix.
Now, is the time to start thinking about Spring!

Do take a look! And, the editor has had the
pleasure of seeing Gene's garden...unbelievable...breathtaking...you want to sit and
mediate among his beautiful plants. A secret...he tells me if you want to come
and take a look...he is happy to open the gate to his garden! That's a real invitation.

Four contributions to the landscape

I. Woodsworth of
the Cowichan Valley Rhododendron Society writes in
their October 2007 newsletter about making wise choices for your garden and how
each contributes to the beauty of the landscape.

Shrubs are now known to make major contributions to
the landscape for four important reasons.

• First. They provide a gradation of
height between tall landscape elements, such as trees or building, and low ones,
such as flowers, lawn or ground covers mimicking the aesthetically pleasing
canopies that exist in nature and allowing the eye to move easily about the
landscaped space. Foundation plantings are frequently composed of various
shrubs...either alone...or in combination with other plants.

• Second. Plants which range in height
from only a foot or so to as high as 20 feet can take the place of trees as the
tallest plant elements.

• Third. These plants are often used as hedges.

• Fourth. Shrubs can be used as ground
cover to stabilize a landscape slope susceptible to erosion. Such slopes might
be difficult to mow even if the gardener could establish a lawn there...a
groundcover of creeping phlox in various shades imitates a wild mountain meadow
and needs no maintenance at all.

Many such areas can be effectively planted with
one or more of the shrubs which spread by underground roots or have branches
that spread across the ground...such as the red osier dogwood, weeping
forsythia, creeping juniper, fragrant sumac, Japanese rose, memorial rose, and snowberries.

Rhododendron fortunei

It seems appropriate that Robert Fortune...in
keeping with his name...discovered this lovely species in 1855. It is a fragrant
rhododendron...but unlike those sweetly scented, tender beauties lindleyi,
nuttallii and maddenii, R. fortunei is quite hardy.

found in eastern China...

Fortune's original collections were made in Chekiang
Province, in eastern China, at about 3,000 feet. Other plant hunters found the
species later...in Anhwei, Kiangsi, and Hunan growing in woods and forests at
2,000-4,000 feet in elevation. Wilson noted that the species was common on other
Chekiang mountains, particularly in the Lushan range of the neighboring province
of Kiangsi, to the west (Davidian, 1989, Vol.2:196). The range of ssp. discolor
is western Hupeh, Sichuan (Szechuan), and Anhwei.

leaves are handsome...

The leaves of R. foruntei are handsome, and
show some variation. They are 3 to 7 inches long, 1.5 to 3 inches wide. A
prominent and very attractive feature is the deep red of the midrib and petioles
(leaf stalks); these create a ring of color around the dormant bud that seems to
deepen and become more conspicuous in winter. The leaves of the Lu Shan form are
typically a dull, olive green in color, and have rich red petioles.

flowers are in a loose truss...

The flowers of R. fortunei are borne in a
loose truss of 5 to 12, and are shaped like wide bells...funnel-campanulate. They
are pink to pale pinkish-lilac or rose...and, of course...fragrant. R.
fortunei has been much used for hybridizing, particularly in North America,
and especially in the East...where it is appreciated for its tolerance of summer
heat and winter cold.

It is noteworthy that...according to Cox..."a
particularly fine large flowered, sweet-scented clone was used as the seed
parent of the original 'Loderi' grex" (1990, 170). The other parent in the
'Loderi' grex is griffithianum, a rather tender rhododendron from the
lower elevations of the Himalayas.

many hybrids...

There are too many hybrids with R. fortunei
to even think of listing here; some of the most popular plants have this
rhododendron as a parent, and two great hybridizers, Rothschild and Dexter, made
free use of it. Indeed, one of the most loved hybrids of all time in eastern
North America is Dexter's 'Scintillation'.

- Whidbey Island Newsletter, April 2003

Companion plants for our rhododendron gardens

Winter flowering shrubs in a garden can really help
to lift your spirits on those dark, dreary, and often incessant rainy days from
December to the end of February. Some of the very best winter flowering shrubs
are the Hamamelis or witch hazel plants.

Hamaelis mollis...

These plants start blooming after the leaves have
dropped in the Fall and carry right through into March. Many of you may be
familiar with Hamamelis mollis which is yellow in color. The flowers have
four petals which are very small, short straps of color close to the stem. These
flowers are remarkably weather hardy and withstand cold spells, even snow. They
bounce back after mild frosts although long periods of exposure to frost can
turn them to brown mush.

Many different
varieties of hamamelis are available at your local garden center. The
best time to shop for these plants is during the Winter months when the garden
centers usually showcase what is in bloom. They will often have hamamelis
plants in full bloom at the entrances to the sales area in order to attract
customers. Who wouldn’t be tempted?

Hamamelis plants are not cheap. One has to
pay a fairly high price compared to other plants...but they are worth it.
Hamamelis are easy to grow and reward you each year with an excellent
display of winter color. Small one-gallon plants can cost about $10-$14...while
a two-gallon are about $20-$25. Plants have been field grown and recently dug
can cost about $35 - 460, depending on size.

Hamamelis species come from North America
(H. virginiana), from China (H. mollis) and from Japan (H.
japonica). The Chinese and Japanese witch hazels are the parents of many
hybrids that are available in the nursery trade today. Early settlers in America
used the whippy stems of H. virginiana for water divining. Its power are
considered to be derived from its similarities to our native Corylus, the
hazelnut.

witch hazels..

The witch hazels come in a variety of flower
colors…ranging from the pale yellows ('Palida') through burnt ambers ('Jelena')
to a deep red beauty (‘Diane’). Many varieties have a strong and pleasant
fragrance. 'Arnold Promise' performs well in the garden, flowers heavily and its
light yellow flowers are scented.

Witch
hazels can be grown in most soils that are slightly acid or neutral. They should
be grown in either full sun or light shade. They are a natural 'woodland' plant,
can grow to around 4 m with age, and require very little attention by way of
pruning. Witch hazels have gorgeous fall foliage color...ranging from yellow to
orange...and even red depending on the variety.

- Garth Wedemire,
Cowichan Valley Chapter
newsletter, March 2005

Rhododendron trichocladum

Not one of the most
spectacular of the species rhododendrons, R.
trichocladum still has certain somewhat subtle attributes that make
it attractive to a collector...that is apart from its relative rarity in garden
settings...always a powerful incentive to a rhododendron "twitcher".

plant characteristics....

This deciduous or semi-deciduous bush has both
precocious flowers (i.e. flowers that come out before the new leaves expand) and
a very long bloom time...often from April to July...with another small flush of
blossoms in the Fall as the leaves turn yellow. This means that this somewhat
lax and rounded shrub with bristly branchlets is almost never with a blossom or
two during its entire growing season. The edges of the leaves are fringed with
hairs and the new growth often an attractive bronzy color.

Although the blossom are small and located in
terminal inflorescences of only 2 to 5 flowers, the more attractive color forms
are a rich sulphur yellow...sometimes with green spotting in the throat...and
funnel-campanulate in shape. It is interesting to note that the type species has
only terminal inflorescences, and that the many forms discovered with both
terminal and axillary blossoms are almost certainly natural hybrids between
R. trichocladum and R. racemosum. The stigma of the flower is
characteristically stout and sharply bent, almost at a right-angel.

plant comes from...

R. trichocladum has been collected many
times, starting with Delavay in 1885 on the slopes of the Cangshan mountains in
Yunnan. It is hardy and fairly vigorous...although not large, usually attaining
only about 5 feet in height and width...so one must assume it is only its lack
of dramatic flair that prevents it from being more widely grown.

another member...

Another member of subsection Tricoclada, R.
lepidostylum, is a more frequent garden choice due to its flat-topped
mounding habit and wonderfully blue-green glaucous new foliage, even though in
this case the very similar flowers are often almost completely hidden by the
emerging leaves.

Trichocladum does not seem to have been
particularly attractive to hybridist either...even though the only cross notes
in Salley & Greer, R. 'Chink' (R. keiskei x R. trichocladum) looks
quite attractive.